Tag Archives: Dingman Jumpstart

It’s hard to believe it’s already December. Final exams are coming to an end and soon students will be off for the winter break. Those who engage with the Dingman Center, know our mission is to build a community that discovers, equips, connects and celebrates entrepreneurship. This semester was no exception. We hit the ground running in August, bringing back our signature programs, such as Pitch Dingman Fridays, the Pitch Dingman Competition during Global Entrepreneurship Week, and Terp Marketplace.

Every two weeks, the Dingman Center distributes The Pitch, which highlights important happenings in our community. In case you missed it, here’s a look at what’s up in entrepreneurship:

Dean Triantis Named One of InTheCapital’s “50 on Fire” for Education

Congrats to Dean Alex Triantis, who has been named one of InTheCapital’s “50 on Fire“; a list of the year’s disruptive innovators covering nine industries. Since his appointment, the school has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund the Center for International Business Education and Research. Dingman Center Angels portfolio company, Homesnap also made the list. Check out the full list here!

The Dingman Center has many entrepreneurship programs available to University of Maryland (UMD) students currently on campus. However, lately we noticed that the resources available to Terp alumni were a bit lacking. UMD has some of the most entrepreneurial alumni out there and the Dingman Center is poised to provide these alumni with the same venture creation methodologies we teach current students. This winter, the Center will launch Dingman Jumpstart, a startup boot camp designed exclusively for UMD alumni. The program will allow alumni to test their early stage venture’s hypotheses and conduct meaningful customer discovery in a short period of time. At the end of the program, which includes a boot camp weekend in January then two follow up meetings in February and March, each venture within the program should have a clear “go” or “no-go” decision.

The Opportunity:

Each year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) invests billions of dollars into the R&D of innovative technologies. With the help of a national program called I-Corps, and through national and regional partnerships with top business schools across the country, these and other federally-funded research projects are given the entrepreneurial tools needed to succeed in the market. I-Corps participants go through a rigorous startup curriculum, developed in collaboration with lean launchpad pioneer Steve Blank, who was instrumental in coining the customer discovery methodology that played a huge part in launching the lean startup movement.

NSF selected a consortium including UMD, George Washington University and Virginia Tech to create the regional DC I-Corps program. Educators and local thought leaders in entrepreneurship make up the teaching faculty for the program. Last winter, Dingman Center Managing Director Elana Fine was recruited to join the teaching faculty and spent months teaching and advising I-Corps ventures.

The Result:

With the I-Corps curriculum now in Dingman’s toolkit, we considered how we could bring these skills to the Terp community, and the idea for Dingman Jumpstart was hatched.

“Jumpstart is really exciting for both Maryland alumni and the Dingman Center. For alumni, it’s an opportunity to access all of the resources available at the Dingman Center, which they may not have known about or accessed while in school,” said Fine. “This program is also a way for us to continue to provide value and support to our entrepreneurial alumni well-beyond graduation.”

In addition to Fine, who has been named one of DC’s “Power Women in Tech,” the Dingman Jumpstart faculty includes fellow DC I-Corps faculty member, Dean Chang.

Applications for Dingman Jumpstart are open now through December 12, 2014.Click here for more information and to apply.

Every two weeks, the Dingman Center distributes The Pitch, which highlights important happenings in our community. In case you missed it, here’s a look at what’s up in entrepreneurship:

Dingman Center Offers Lean Startup Program Exclusively for UMD Alumni

The Dingman Center has created a unique program to help UMD alumni entrepreneurs jumpstart their startup ideas. Dingman Jumpstart will help alumni de-risk their ideas using the principles of the highly effective Lean Launchpad methodology. The eight-week program kicks off with a boot camp weekend (Jan. 9-11) featuring interactive workshops, lectures and intense customer discovery. The program continues with two additional workshops in February and March. In the end, alumni should be equipped to make a “go or no-go” decision on their idea.

Campus partners include the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, DC-ICorps and Mtech. The full schedule, program materials and registration information is available online.

Don’t miss the opportunity to jumpstart your business idea. Register by December 12.

It’s been an exciting week so far at Dingman Jumpstart. We’re seeing some of the areas brightest entrepreneurs with some game-changing ideas. The participants have attended several workshops and panels but there are two that stand out: one with seasoned entrepreneurs and one with entrepreneurs fresh in the game. Take a look at who we lined up to inspire our group of Jumpstart participants.

Learning From the Mistakes of Successful EntrepreneursOn Wednesday, we featured two of our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Jason Shrensky and Ed Barrientos. The entrepreneurs shared their experiences starting successful businesses as well as the mistakes they made along the way.

Jason Shrensky (@shrensky), Co-Founder, Uber OfficesJason Shrensky is a local entrepreneur and angel investor who joined the Dingman Center team as an Angel in Residence in 2011. In addition to actively investing in early-stage companies, he splits his time between two startups that he recently co-founded: ÜberOffices and ComplexInterests. ÜberOffices provides co-working office space in the DC Metro area predominantly for early-stage technology and media companies. At ComplexInterests, Jason is working on developing a unique enterprise software package targeted at accounting, law, and financial services firms.

Ed Barrientos (@SnowCrash65), CEO, Brazen CareeristEd Barrientos is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Brazen Careerist, a career focused social networking site targeting Gen Y. He is also Managing Partner of Zeitgeist Holdings, L.L.C., an angel investment firm focused on investing in early stage technology companies. From 1996 to 2005, he was President and CEO of Arc Second Inc., a high growth market leader in the field of laser based, high-precision GPS. Barrientos led Arc Second to a successful exit (acquired by Metris NV of Belgium) at the end of 2005. He sat on the Board of Directors of Metris NV, and worked as an active Board member through the Company’s IPO (2006) and its acquisition by Nikon (Japan) in 2009.

Learning From Young EntrepreneursTo close out the week on Friday, we will be joined by a group of young entrepreneurs still fresh in the game. Their startups have experienced success, but they are still knee-deep in the daily operations of running their companies.

Justin Baer, Founder, Check In Easy (@checkineasy)Justin Baer, New York University graduate and entrepreneur, has launched the guest list and event check in app Check In Easy. The idea was born from social business venture, CharityHappenings.org and CharityHappenings Ticketing clients who were fed up with the inefficiency of paper check-in. Prior to founding Check In Easy, Justin launched CharityHappenings.org LLC, a social business venture providing the non-profit sector with a web-based master calendar, ticketing service and supplier directory.

Aaron Epstein (@aaron_epstein), Co-Founder and CPO, Creative MarketAaron Epstein co-founded Creative Market, a platform for hand crafted, mousemade and easily accessible design content from independent creatives around the world. A designer, developer, jack of all trades and Robert H. Smith School of Business alumnus, Aaron claims to be fueled by avocados and cheerios.

Rami Essaid (@ramiessaid), Co-Founder, Distil NetworksRami began his career as the founder and CEO of Chit Chat Communications. After a successful exit, he consulted in mobile development. With over 11 years in communications, network security, and infrastructure management, Rami advised enterprise companies to help improve scalability and reliability while maintaining a high level of security. Rami attended North Carolina State University where he majored in computer engineering.

Kevin Lenane (@kevinlenane), Founder & CEO, VeenomeKevin Lenane is an experienced project manager with a keen sense of how location, platform, and portability play in to the mobile experience for businesses and consumers. Kevin has worked with clients at PointAbout including OnStar, the Huffington Post, FEMA, and the ESRB. Prior to PointAbout, Kevin was part of the product management team behind the location management platform NAVTEQ.

Elise Whang (@elisewhang), Founder, SNOBSWAPSNOBSWAP was first inspired by Elise’s hunt for a pre-loved Chanel handbag, when she found herself dreaming about a website where members could swap or sell their designer clothes and accessories. Elise, hailing from a highly successful law background, decided to join forces with her sister Emily, an MBA with a deep luxury retail background and passion for all things designer. Uniting complementary strengths, expertise, and vision made for a perfectly tailored business venture.

The Dingman Center is gearing up for a productive yet fun summer. While many students in our community will be away at exciting internships and visits home, the Dingman Center will offer a range of activities for those still in the area. Entrepreneurs-in-Residence will be here to advise students on their business ideas. A group of Chinese MBA students will visit to experience how we practice entrepreneurship. Finally, we’ll host Jumpstart, a bootcamp where budding entrepreneurs will learn and apply the principles of the lean startup methodology. Take a deeper look into our summer plans.

Pitch Dingman doesn’t stop for the summer. While sessions will not be held every Friday as they are during the academic year there are still opportunities to receive feedback and advising from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Go to ter.ps/EIR2013 to view available appointment times and sign-up.

In July, the Dingman Center along with the Office of Global Programs will host a group of MBA students from Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management with an interest in entrepreneurship. This visit reflects the ongoing relationship between the Dingman Center and Peking University, located in Beijing, China, as they host the Center’s annual China Business Plan Competition. The visit includes lectures from distinguished faculty and workshops focused on venture creation. The group will spend time off campus visiting local startups and institutions such as the World Bank, George Washington University and the Maryland Capital State House.

As is our tradition, we will close the summer with Dingman Jumpstart, an intensive five-day boot camp where University of Maryland students and alumni can learn to build and refine their own businesses. Jumpstart will take place August 19-23 at Van Munching Hall, home of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Here’s a preview of what to expect at Jumpstart!

Learn from the best through hands-on workshops and interactive advising sessions led by successful entrepreneurs, business executives, and investors.

Meet like-minded entrepreneurs in your own community and start building your network of mentors and peers.

End the week by pitching your business idea to a panel of expert entrepreneurs. Following program completion, apply to the Dingman Center’s EnTERPreneur Academy where you can have access to a wide variety of workshops and the option to compete in Pitch Dingman Competitions held throughout the school year.

So what are you waiting for? End your summer by starting your business at Dingman Jumpstart! Details and registration information can be found at ter.ps/jumpstart